Diaper panty



A. B. DAVIS Jan. 8, 1963 DIAPER PANTY Filed Nov. 21, 1961 ilnited States Patent O 3,l7'2,123 DEAPER PANTY Alice E. Davis, 13 Elm St, Adams, Mass. Filed Nov. 21, 1961, Sci. No. 153,914 9 Ciaims. (Cl. 128-284) My invention relates to absorbent infants diapers of the disposable as well as the re-usable types, and has for its objects to make such diapers more absorbent for a given weight of diaper, and shaping the diaper to the contour of an infants body while making the same size of diaper usable by children of various sizes.

Another object of my invention is to provide a diaper. which dispenses with ordinary safety pins usually provided to fasten the diaper.

In accordance with a feature of my invention, I com,- pose a diaper of a substantially oblong sheet which is concave at the longer edges and which consists of a soft and resilient synthetic porous plastic such as synthetic foam or synthetic sponge material.

According to another feature of the invention 1 cut a number of diapers from a large sheet so that the border of each diaper conforms to the shape of the border of the adjacent diapers cut therefrom, thereby reducing the excess material used to a minimum.

According to still another feature of the invention I fuse an end portion of one longer edge of the sheet to the corresponding end portion of the same edges to form a panty-like absorbent garment.

The resilience of the diaper will conform itself to the shape of an infants body and will absorb the liquids usually associated with healthy infants. The diaper may be used once and discarded or may be rewashed in an ordinary washing machine for subsequent use. Moreover, the diaper may be used as a liner within a waterimpermeable film material such as polyethylene, also shaped to the contour of an infants body or within a pair of water-impermeable panties. V

The invention will be described in more detail by re ferring to embodiments illustrated by way of example on the accompanying drawing, in which; n

FIGS. 1 and 2 are plan and end views respectively of an unfolded diaper comprised of the foam material ac cording to the invention;

FIG. 3 is a perspective of the diaper folded and shaped into the diaper form and fastened together with safety pins;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a diaper folded according to the invention to the shape of panties and fused at the edges to retain its shape; and

FIG. 5 is a plan view of an enlarged sheet of foam according to the invention showing the lines to be cut for forming individual diapers according to the invention.

The diaper according to the invention shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 comprises a generally rectangular sheet of a resilient foam such as polyether urethane foam, polyester Urethane foam, foam rubber, all of the flexible type, having two of its edges 12 and i4 longer than the two other edges 16 and 18. The sheet preferably has a thickness from /6 to /2 inches. The longer edges 12 and 14 form concavities 2t) and 22 respectively so as to diminish the dimension across the center of the diaper thereby enabling the diaper to be conformed to the shape of the body during use. Preferably, all the edges of the diaper constitute a zigzag pattern as may be produced by pinking shears or the like for the purpose of adding resiliency and softness against the skin of an infant wearing the diaper.

In use, the diaper is placed so that the narrow portion between edges 20 and 22 are between the infants legs and the edges 16 and 18 lie adjacent the belly and back respectively. The lower (in FIG. 1) portions designated 24 and 26 of edges 12 and 14 are secured by means of safety pins to the section of the diaper near upper portions designated 28 and 30 respectively of edges 12 and 14 so as to form the shape shown in FIG. 3. According to the shape in FIG. 3, two holes now formed by the concave edges 20 and 22 provide easy access for the childs legs and the portion of the diaper near edges 16 and 18 fit snugly about or below the infants waist.

' The soft absorbent character of the polyurethane or the like foam contribute greatly to absorbing the body fluids normally emitted by a healthy infant. The diaper thus formed after use may be conveniently discarded or may be laundered and reused.

' According to FIG. 4, the edges 24 and 26 are respec tively fused to the edges 28 and 30 in this foam-like material by a simple heating process to which the polyurethane and other foam materials are peculiarly adaptable. The thus'pre-formed parity-like construction may be slipped over an infants legs in the manner of an ordinary bathing suit or the like, and because of its resilience, if comfortably snug will remain comfortably around the childs body and absorb with great efiiciency the fluids emitted thereby. The construction according to FIG. 4 embraces the field of infants garments generally designated training pants and will accomplish a similar purpose as well as accomplishing the purpose for which a diaper is normally used.

FIG. 5 illustrates a blank of an enlarged sheet 35 from which the individual diapers may be easily cut with a minimum waste of material. The rectangular sheet 35 is out along a series of uniformly wavy lines 36 wherein the adjacent lines are of mutually opposite wave shape rela tive to each other. The maximum distances between the lines should correspond to the dimension in FIG. 1 of edges 16 and 18 and the minimum distance between the Wavy lines correspond to the distance between edges 22 and 20. Extending between the maximum distances of adjacent wave-like lines are straight lines corresponding to the edges 16 and 18. These lines represent cuts forming with the wavy lines individual diapers 4i approximating the shape in FIG. 1. The invention contemplates that the'cutsalo ng the lines 36 and 38 be made by a stamp on a'blank similar to that shown in FIG. 5, or that the wavy lines 36 be first cut along an elongated blank and then indexing the resulting wave-like strips to a shear or cutter which forms the final product. The invention contemplates that the wave-like lines 35 and the straight lines 38 each be cut along a smaller zigzag pattern as would be accomplished by pinking shears and shown at least in part in FIG. 5 in the area denoted by 42. This corresponds to the pinking shear cut disclosed with respect to FIGS. 1, 2, 3 and 4.

The individual diapers produced according to the process illustrated in FIG. 5 correspond approximately to the diaper 10 of FIG. 1 in size and shape and may be fastened as illustrated in FIG. 3 as well as FIG. 4. The invention contemplates fusing portions of the diapers 4'0 corresponding to the portions 12, 14 and 28, 30 respectively of the diapers 10 together so as to form a diaper corresponding approximately to that shown in FIG. 4. Conventional heating means are employed for this fusing process.

It is contemplated that the diapers according to FIGS. 1 through 5 be manufactured in varying sizes, depending upon the infant upon which they are to be used. However, the number of sizes necessary for use with various children is minimized by the resilient properties of the diaper according to the invention. Thus, the usefulness of a particular size for each child will be extended over a period of several months to perhaps a year because of this elastic or resilient property.

The invention further contemplates securing to the in- :9 terior, that is to say, to one side of the diaper in FIG. 1, and to the interior of the diaper in FIG. 4, a paper or cloth liner for protecting the skin of the infant in cases where the foam material is found irritatable. Fastening of the liner to the diaper is accomplished for example at the edges by a suitable cement. The liner may also be impregnated with an antiseptic substance. The invention also contemplates impregnating the foam material with an antiseptic substance suitable for infants skin.

The invention further contemplates fastening at the edges of the diaper or across the diaper surface in FIGS. 1, 2 and 3 as Well as in FIGS. 4 and 5 an outer waterimpermeable layer for preventing the dampness of the diaper from reaching the childs outer clothing. The waterimpermeable and the water-permeable liners may be formed simultaneously with the diaper blanks by stamping or cutting them simultaneously from overlying blanks.

My invention also contemplates a removable disposable diaper-liner insert having the shape of the members and 40 in FIGS. 1 and 5 respectively, and being made of the same material as members 10 and 40, namely polyether urethane foam, polyester urethane foam, orfoatn rubber, all of the flexible type. The insert, when used, is placed face-to-face with a cloth diaper for contact with the infant Wearers skin, between the sheets of a folded cloth diaper, or between a cloth diaper and a paper diaperliner.

While specific embodiments of the invention. have been disclosed, it will be obvious that changes are possible within the scope of the following claims.

I claim:

1. A diaper comprising a sheet of resilientfoam mate-., rial, said sheet having an elongated essentially rectangular shape, said sheet being concavely curved along the longer edges, a portion of each longer edge on each side being thermally fused to the corresponding portion of the same side to form an absorbent pants-like garment.

2. A diaper comprising a sheet of resilient foam material, said sheet having an elongated essentially rectangular shape, said sheet being concavely curved along the longer edges for folding to the contour of a body and fastening at the adjacent corners along the dimension, "an inten'or water-permeable liner conforming to the shape of said sheet and secured to said sheet.

3. A diaper as in claim 2, wherein said liner is comprised of paper.

4. A diaper comprising'a sheet of resilient foam mate! rial, said sheet having an elongated essentially rectangular shape, said sheet being concavely curved along the longer edges, a water-impermeable liner conforming to the shape of the diaper and secured at the edges to said diaper, said sheet being foldable for contact with an infants skin and fastenable at adjacent corners along the long dimension.

5. A diaper comprising a sheet of resilient foam material, said sheet having an elongated essentially rectangular shape, said sheet being concavely curved along the long edges, a portion of each longer edge on each side being thermally fused to the corresponding portion on the same side to form an absorbent pants-like garment, an exterior liner of Water-impermeable material, conforming in its outline to the outline of the sheet before fusing of the diaper and being secured to the sheet.

6. A diaper comprising a sheet of resilient foam material, said sheet having an elongated essentially rectangular shape, said sheet being concavely curved along the longer edges, an interior liner conforming to the shape of the sheet and secured to the edges of the sheet along its edges, a portion of each longer edge on each side of said sheet being thermally fused to toe corre-. sponding portion on the same side to form an aosorbent pants-like garment with the lining forming the interiorof the garment.

7. A sheet as in claim 6 wherein an outer liner conforming to the shape of the sheet is secured to the edges of the sheet at the exterior side of the sheet when it is formed.

8. The method of producing a diaper which comprises cutting an elongated foam-like water-absorbent sheet along a plurality of adjacent Wave-like lines, the adjacent ones of these lines being out of phase with each other with respect to their wave patterns, cutting the resulting strips along the lines of maximum dimension between the adjacent lines, and fusing the portions of the opposite ends of the longer edges to each other to thereby form a pants-like garment.

9. The method of preparing a diaper comprising cutting a blank of approximately rectangular shape from a sheet of Water-absorbent foam material wherein the rec-.

wtangle is greater along one dimension than the other,

and fusing opposite portions of the same longer edge to each other to form a pants-like garment.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

1. A DIAPER COMPRISING A SHEET OF RESILIENT FOAM MATERIAL, SAID SHEET HAVING AN ELONGATED ESSENTIALLY RECTANGULAR SHAPE, SAID SHEET BEING CONCAVELY CURVED ALONG THE LONGER EDGES, A PORTION OF EACH LONGER EDGE ON EACH SIDE BEING THERMALLY FUSED TO THE CORRESPONDING PORTION OF THE SAME SIDE TO FORM AN ABSORBENT PANTS-LIKE GARMENT.
 8. THE METHOD OF PRODUCING A DIAPER WHICH COMPRISES CUTTING AN ELONGATED FOAM-LIKE WATER-ABSORBENT SHEET ALONG A PLURALITY OF ADJACENT WAVE-LIKE LINES, THE ADJACENT ONES OF THESE LINES BEING 108* OUT OF PHASE WITH EACH OTHER WITH RESPECT TO THEIR WAVE PATTERNS, CUTTING THE RESULTING STRIPS ALONG THE LINES OF MAXIMUM DIMENSION BETWEEN THE ADJACENT LINES, AND FUSING THE PORTIONS OF THE OPPOSITE ENDS OF THE LONGER EDGES TO EACH OTHER TO THEREBY FORM A PANTS-LIKE GARMENT. 